


Pretending

by EvilToTheCore13



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: M/M, Marriage, Mutual Pining, Nothing like anything I've written before, Undercover Missions, Undercover as Married, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25536187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilToTheCore13/pseuds/EvilToTheCore13
Summary: Finn and Poe were meant to be on an ordinary undercover mission. They weren't meant to be undercover as a couple, and they definitely weren't meant to be undercover as married.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 8
Kudos: 44
Collections: Just Married Exchange 2020





	Pretending

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nununununu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nununununu/gifts).



> This is so unlike anything I usually write, it was an unusual experience writing it. I don't even write much romance in general. I have no idea if I've done a good job but I hope you enjoy it.

The mission started out like plenty of others had before it. The Resistance had found out that the First Order were planning an attack—on Yablari this time, after they’d found out about a group of Anomids who were helping fugitives—and Finn and Poe had been sent to help the Anomids escape before the First Order got there. The First Order had put a blockade in place around the planet, only letting their own ships through, so they’d had to go undercover on a Star Destroyer to get onto the planet, but undercover missions weren’t all that unusual either. There was no reason for this mission to go differently to any other, or for anything unexpected to happen.

Finn’s cover was as a stormtrooper, while Poe was pretending to be a TIE pilot. Finn had hoped he’d never have to wear the stormtrooper armour again, let alone act like a loyal soldier, obeying the officers’ every order, but he knew he had to do it for the mission, and it wouldn’t be for long. Anyway, he definitely knew how to act like a stormtrooper, and that would make his cover more convincing, which was what mattered.

Things started to get a bit difficult when it came to how they’d communicate while on the ship. They wouldn’t be able to sneak any communication devices on without getting caught. Still, even that shouldn’t have been too much of a problem—it just meant they’d have to meet up in secret sometimes to tell each other anything they found out.

It wasn’t easy finding places to meet in secret on a First Order ship, but there was one spot in one of the narrow corridors that none of the cameras covered. Which did mean they were kind of awkwardly cramped together, but still, it wasn’t like they were having long conversations or anything, and it all went fine the first few times they met up. So when Finn managed to find out some more details of the First Order’s attack plans, the day before the ship would land on Yablari, he didn’t think there’d be any problem with telling Poe.

Of course, with Finn’s luck, things didn’t go that smoothly. They weren’t far into the conversation when he heard footsteps approaching down the corridor. He stopped halfway through his sentence, and glanced at Poe nervously. Poe was more experienced with undercover work, hopefully he’d know what to do.

Finn lowered his voice to a whisper. “What are we going to say to them?”

“I’ll think of something.”

Finn stared back. “You’ll— _think_ of something? You don’t _know_?” Still trying his best to keep his voice quiet as the footsteps got closer.

Before either of them could say any more, a navy lieutenant—Finn didn’t know her name—rounded the corner of the corridor, heading towards them. She glared at them. “What are you two doing?”

Finn tried to think of an excuse. “Uh—I—”

“There’s no good reason for a stormtrooper and a TIE pilot to be meeting in secret. And according to some of your comrades in arms, this isn’t the first time you’ve both mysteriously disappeared at around the same time.”

Damn it, they’d been caught—what were they gonna do? They had to get onto Yablari and save these people, but the way things were going they were gonna be executed first…

“Look, I can explain.” Poe sounded—and looked—much calmer than Finn felt. That was something, right? Maybe he had a plan now?

The lieutenant raised an eyebrow. “Really.”

“Yes. You see, we’re...together.”

What? Finn did his best not to let his shock show on his face, even though a part of him wanted to yell “What were you thinking?” at Poe.

The lieutenant was still staring at them. “Together.”

“Yeah. In a relationship. You know.”

“Such a familiar relationship is unprofessional to say the least.”

“Our ranks are equivalent,” Finn added. He had to back Poe up, after all, even though he still wished Poe could have gone for any other excuse. “And it’s not like we’d be in the same chain of command anyway. There’s no rule against it.”

Poe was looking at Finn with gratitude. The lieutenant was silent for a moment. “Well, I suppose it’s technically not forbidden. You won’t be punished, but don’t allow it to affect your performance in combat.”

She turned and walked away. Once she was out of earshot, Finn turned to Poe. “What the hell was that about?”

“It was all I could think of. Anyway, it worked.”

“Yeah, but now we’ll have to act like we are, or they’ll start getting suspicious.”

Poe shrugged. “It can’t be too hard, can it?”

Finn wasn’t so sure about that. He barely knew how people who were in that kind of relationship even acted. It wasn’t exactly something he’d seen much of in the Stormtrooper Corps, and he hadn’t had much chance to learn about it while fighting for the Resistance either. Still, he couldn’t really stay angry with Poe—he’d managed to stop them getting executed, after all. Finn would just have to do the best he could.

* * *

Of course, the other pilots had asked Poe a lot of questions when he got back. They probably hadn’t been expecting to see him again after getting questioned about his mysterious disappearances. So Poe had ended up “confessing” to them that he’d secretly been seeing Finn—or FL-3174, really, the designation Finn was using for the mission. Finn had gotten similar questions from the other stormtroopers, and now it seemed like half the troops on the ship knew about the “relationship” between FL-3174 and Second Lieutenant Aere Venain.

Now, the entire ship was preparing to attack the town on Yablari where the fugitives had been hiding. The TIE Corps had been ordered to strafe the town, while the stormtroopers would attack on the ground.

Time for the next part of the plan. Poe and Finn ran towards one of the main hangars. With any luck they could get there unnoticed, the officers distracted by the preparations for the attack, then steal a TIE/sf and escape. Poe couldn’t help smiling at the thought. They’d come a long way since Finn had saved his life that day.

“Hey, where are you two going in such a hurry?”

So much for going unnoticed. Poe stopped, turning towards the stormtrooper who’d spotted them. Would he have to shoot him? That would alert people to their escape, but he didn’t seem to have much choice.

As it was, though, the stormtrooper took another look at them, and laughed. “Oh, it’s _you._ Right. Going to have a bit of fun while you can before the battle?”

Of course, the hangar was near enough to the TIE pilots’ quarters, the stormtrooper probably thought that was where they were headed.

Poe grinned, wrapping an arm around Finn’s shoulders. Only to make the act more convincing, of course. “Yep, you guessed it. Don’t tell anyone, all right?”

“I saw nothing.” The stormtrooper walked away.

Finn was staring at Poe, his eyes wide. Poe hastily pulled his arm away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Just...had to convince him somehow.”

“No, it’s...it’s fine.”

A pause. “Anyway. We need to get to the hangar.”

* * *

“Please—it’s urgent—can you take us to Prynn Sierrion?” Finn asked yet another passer-by, for what felt like the hundredth time. They didn’t have long before the First Order would launch the attack on the town. They needed to find the man in charge of the operation to help fugitives escape, and help him get out of there before it was too late. But they couldn’t just walk up to his house on their own, not wearing First Order uniforms, and unfortunately Prynn had been working on his own, without any contacts in the Resistance—which left them desperately searching for someone who knew him and could take them to him.

The Anomid woman looked at them warily. “What would a First Order pilot and a stormtrooper want with Prynn Sierrion? I can’t imagine it would be anything good,” she said through her vocoder mask.

“It’s not what you think—”

She cut Finn off. “You understand that if you’re Resistance agents, I can’t help you. Helping deserters could get me imprisoned if I’m caught, but helping Resistance agents will get me killed.”

“We’re not Resistance. We just want to go somewhere where we’re safe from the First Order and can live a peaceful life together.” Finn took Poe by the hand, trying not to think about how many times he’d imagined doing this. It was just part of their cover, after all.

“Very well, I’ll take you to him. I have to warn you, though—he doesn’t speak or understand Basic, and I won’t be able to stay around to translate.”

“That’s fine, I know a bit of Anomid sign language.” Poe made some gestures Finn didn’t understand as he spoke, apparently to prove it.

* * *

The woman—whose name turned out to be Zhey Eline—led them to a small house on the outskirts of the city. Prynn Sierrion came out to greet them. He was an old Anomid man, bald and wearing dark robes.

 _I wasn’t expecting anyone today,_ he gestured to Zhey.

_They’re deserters, they said they needed your help urgently._

_I’ll do my best._

Zhey turned and left.

Poe hesitated, then let go of Finn’s hand so he could try and use what Anomid sign language he knew. There were some aspects of it that were impossible without six-fingered hands, but he knew enough to make himself understood—most of the time, at least.

_We’re Resistance agents. The First Order has found out you’re helping fugitives—they’re going to attack the city, and they won’t stop until someone turns you in. We’ll do our best to fight them off, but we need to get you out of here first._

_And how are you going to do that? My usual smuggler contact won’t get here for several more days._

_We stole a TIE fighter, one of the bigger Special Forces ones. We can get you to a Resistance base. The Resistance will probably be very interested in recruiting you after everything you’ve done._

Prynn bowed slightly. _I will forever be indebted to you and your husband._

* * *

“ _What?_ ” Finn stared at Poe. “He thinks we’re _married?”_

“Well, no, I told him we weren’t—”

“What made him even think that?” Not that the idea would have been _bad_ , exactly, in a different situation—but it was so impossible Finn had never even considered it.

“OK, look—Anomid sign language is complicated. It’s not just hand gestures, it’s your whole body language as well. That, and it’s hard without six-fingered hands. So...for a start, they have two different words for ‘we’, and I used the wrong one when talking about you and me.”

“Wrong in what way?”

“Well...too intimate. That and our body language—especially the whole holding hands thing—was kind of accidentally telling him we were married.”

“But you told him we weren’t?” Finn wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

“Well, yes, but—”

“But?”

“Apparently, according to Anomid traditions, it will bring us bad luck if we do anything dangerous without getting married first. Since...well, apparently he thinks we’re obviously in love.” Poe laughed, slightly awkwardly. “Not sure why. Guess it’s just...a misunderstanding. Different cultures and all that.”

For a moment, Finn struggled to even find words. “So...are you telling me we’re getting married now?”

Poe shrugged. “I mean, I can think of worse people to get married to. And Prynn won’t let us go ahead with the mission until we do.”

Right. Of course. The mission. Well, Poe was right about one thing. There were plenty of worse people to get married to than Poe Dameron.

* * *

The wedding wasn’t exactly elaborate, since they didn’t have long before they had to get off the planet. Prynn gave a “speech” in Anomid sign language—most of it was references to various Anomid traditions that Poe didn’t really understand.

Halfway through the speech, Poe heard the all too familiar sound of TIE fighters flying overhead, but Prynn refused to leave until the ceremony had finished. Privately, Poe thought staying here while the city was being strafed was more likely to bring bad luck, but Prynn insisted.

Then they ran. A group of stormtroopers spotted them, and started shooting. They had to zigzag between buildings, taking cover behind corners, trying to get to the TIE fighter as fast as they could. They were nearly there—

A sudden, burning pain in his left shoulder. Poe stumbled forwards and fell, sprawled across the ground. He must have been shot. Then he felt Finn's hands on him, helping him to his feet.

"Poe? Are you all right? Can you walk?" Finn's arm was wrapped around Poe's right shoulder to support him, carefully avoiding the injury on his left from the blaster bolt.

Poe struggled to get his breath back for a few moments before he could speak. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Finn's eyes were still wide with concern, but he nodded. They ran on, the stormtroopers now close behind.

The three of them got to the TIE fighter just in time. Poe sat down in the cockpit, Finn by his side as the gunner. He winced as he reached for the controls and a jolt of pain shot through his shoulder.

Finn glanced at him. "You going to be OK to fly?"

Poe forced a smile through the grimace. "It would take much more than this to stop me."

He took off. The First Order TIE Fighters started shooting at them immediately. But even injured, evading their fire came naturally to Poe. Next to him, Finn was firing back, shooting several TIE fighters down.

Poe turned to Finn, grinning. “Just like old times.”

Finn smiled back. “At least I know how to operate this thing now. Well, mostly.”

* * *

They got back to the Resistance base in one piece. That was something, at least. They got congratulated on the successful mission. Everything should have been back to normal.

Finn frowned, turning to pace across his room once more. What was he going to say to Poe? “Oh, you know how we got fake married on an alien planet as part of that last mission? I really wish that was real.” It wasn’t going to work. Poe would just...laugh at him, or something.

He'd known all along it was just a cover story. Why had he started to hope it might end up being more than that? He should have known better. But it had been nice to imagine what it could have been like, at the time--even though he must have known it would never happen.

There was a knock at his door.

“Finn?”

Poe’s voice.

“Finn? Can I come in?”

Finn took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s...fine.”

Poe opened the door, and stepped into the room. Finn was relieved to see his shoulder had completely healed--bacta was hard to come by for the Resistance sometimes, but they'd clearly managed to get some. Poe watched Finn in silence for a second. “Look, I know things got kind of...awkward back there.”

“Just a bit. But it’s fine. We can...go back to normal. Like it didn’t happen.”

“Oh. Well. OK.”

Was it Finn’s imagination, or did Poe look disappointed? Finn shook his head. Must have been imagining it. “...That is what you wanted, right?”

“Well, it was only for the mission. So I guess it makes sense. If that’s what _you_ want.”

How was he going to say this? Finn exhaled sharply. He’d just have to...well, say it. “No, not really.”

“What?” Poe stared at him for a moment, then sighed. “You’re not still angry with me for saying we were in a relationship, are you? I _was_ kind of put on the spot.”

“No—no, that’s not it—OK.” Finn took a couple more deep breaths. He wasn’t good at this. “I...I wish that hadn’t just been part of our cover. It started to feel like it wasn’t. For a moment. But obviously I know it _was_ , and you wouldn’t want—that, so I was hoping we could—you know, stay friends like we were before anyway, so I wasn’t going to tell you because I thought it would make things...well, kind of weird...I’m not angry with you, I just—I don’t know why I’m being like this, it was just another undercover mission...”

“Wait. You wanted it to be real?” Poe was frowning, but thankfully he looked more confused than angry.

“Yeah, I’m sorry—”

“No, you don’t have to be sorry. Just—I thought you were uncomfortable with it.”

“This will sound stupid, but...I was—don’t laugh at me—” Finn glanced down, then back at Poe— “I was worried you’d figure out I wasn’t pretending like you were, and that you wouldn’t even want to be friends with me after that.”

Poe looked back at Finn for a long time in silence before he spoke. “I wasn’t pretending either.”


End file.
